Explanation: NGC 2685
is a confirmed polar ring galaxy - a rare type
of galaxy with
stars, gas and dust orbiting in rings perpendicular to the plane of
a flat galactic disk.
The bizarre configuration could be
caused by the chance
capture of
material from another galaxy by a disk galaxy,
with the captured debris strung out in a rotating ring.
Still, observed
properties of NGC 2685
suggest that the rotating ring structure is remarkably old and stable.
In this
sharp view of the peculiar system also known as
Arp
336 or the Helix galaxy, the strange,
perpendicular rings
are easy to trace as they pass in front of the galactic disk,
along with other disturbed outer structures.
NGC 2685 is about 50,000 light-years across and
40 million light-years away in the constellation
Ursa Major.